Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has pledged the clean-up after the massive Black Summer bushfires will be completed by the end of July, a month after the original deadline.
Around 2500 properties have now been cleared throughout NSW as part of a mammoth effort following the devastating fires.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian original set an "ambitious" deadline of June 30 for the clean-up to finish.
But two weeks out from that date, hundreds of properties are yet to be cleared.
Data provided to the Senate showed that, as of May 20, 23 per cent of properties in Bega Valley registered for the clean-up had been completed. In Eurobodalla, that figure was 28 per cent, while in the Snowy Monaro region the clean-up was yet to begin.
But Senator Cormann said incredible progress had been made since that date.
Under questioning from Labor on Tuesday, Senator Cormann revealed 11 properties had now been cleared in Snowy-Monaro, with 31 to be cleared by June 20. In Bega, 375 properties had now been cleared (up from 209 on May 20) and 431 would be gone by June 20.
In Eurobodalla, 570 properties had now been cleaned up, with that number to rise to 600 by June 20. Only 331 had been cleared by May 20.
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Senator Cormann said the federal and NSW governments were working "as fast as possible" to support bushfire-affected communities.
"My advice is most debris will be cleared by the end of June and all is expected to be completed by July 31," he said.
"In all of the circumstances including the impact of COVID-19, I would have thought the Labor Party would understand that we are dealing in a particular circumstance that is more challenging than we envisaged back in January."
The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Management has been told of the toll the delayed clean-up has taken on communities.
In a newly released submission, the Cobargo Relief Centre told the commission it took four months for the clean-up to begin.
"This is not only a health and safety issue, but has had a very detrimental effect on residents' mental health," the centre said.
People who were uninsured are living in tents on their properties without water or sanitation.
"Those people who were insured are still finding it very difficult to move forward, as their properties have not been cleared and they are unable to make plans to build new dwellings," the centre said.
"They, too, have been left to their own devices to try to source temporary accommodation while they wait for land clearing and other structural services."
